Article made of fabric



Dec. 31, 1929. w. H. KOBBE ARTICLEMADE OF FABRIC Origifial Filed Dec.14, 1925 invention is based rigidity. fabric and sulfur may variousways, as,

Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNITED s'rA'rasv PATENT orFrcE WILLIAI HOFFMANROBBIE, Oils NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 TEXAS GULF SULPHUR COMPANY, OFBAY CITY, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS ARTICLE MADE: OF FABRIC Originalapplication flied December 14, 1925, Serial No. 75,437. Divided and thisapplication filed Augult 13, 1926. Serial 170. 129,086. a

This invention relates to articles made of fabric and has for its objectthe provision of certain improvements in the methods of making articlesin part at least of fabric. More particularly the invention aims toprovide an improved method of making articles comprising-a fabricimpregnated with molten sulphur.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial N o. 75,437. The on my discovery that the association of-sulfur with fabrics,preferably by impregnation of the fabrics with surfur, imparts such adegree of strength and/or rigidity to the resulting product as to renderit admlrably adapted for making numerous rigid articles particularly ofirregular contour. The lnvention thus contemplates the provision of'newarticles of manufacture made in whole or in part of sulfurcontaining orsulfur-impregnated fabric, and methods of making the same.

By fabric I mean to include any pliable fibrous material such as thevarious textiles, felts and other clothlike materials, made of eitherorganic or inorganic fibre. In articular, I meansto include fabrics maderom asbestos or other mineral fibres as well as fabrics made of wool,silk, hair, hemp, flax, and other animal and ve etable res. oreespecially, I'mean to Include burlap, canvas, cotton flannel, linen, andin fact all classes of fabrics and/or textile products.

In carrying out the present invention, I treat the fabric with sulfur soas to effect an association with the fabric of an appropriate amount ofsulfur in such form as to impart to the fabric a desired degree ofstrength or The desired association between the be brought about in forexample, by impregnating the fabric with sulfur through immersion of thefabric in molten I association of the sulfur with'the fabric may also beaccomplished by passing the fabric over rolls carrying molten sulfur, byincluding solid sulfur in the fabric in any appropriate way andsubsequently fusing the cotton, jute,

into any pecullar or sulfur. "Theshape, rst, the formin as well assulfur in contact with the fabric bythe application of heat. a

Thedegree of impregnation or treatment of the fabric with sulfur can beclosely controlled. For certain articles of manufacture a very light orpartial penetration of the sulfur into the fabric is suflicient, whilein other cases the maximum absorption of sulfur by the fabric is mostdesirab e.

Heretofore, the manufacture of objects of peculiar or irregular shapehas been attended with many diiiiculties. For example," a gooseneckradio horn, a dolls body, as well as numerous other objects of peculiaror odd shape, have heretofore been customarily made up in sections orotherwise built up or fabricated. aper and paper, products are readilysha ed into regular geometric forms, such astu es, cones, andrectangular receptacles, but can not be shaped into peculiarly curvedsurfaces such' as are presented in oose-neck radio horns, dolls bodiesand the like. Articles or objects of irregular contour have heretoforebeen frequently made of'metai castings, but such castings are heavy,oomphcated and expensive. Wood pulp has also been cast on screens inorder to produce odd f shapes, as, for example, in makin toys, but thisprocess is slow, expensive, an otherw se unsatisfactory. r

Fabric, on the other hand,'because of 1ts great pliability, is ideallysuited for shaping irregular form. The use of fabric in making articlesor objects of 1rregular shape or contour has not heretofore beenpracticable, because of the absence of a chea and effective method ofpermanently retaining the desired shape or form of the fabric. I havediscovered that fabric appropriately treated with sulfur can be made topermanently retain or hold any desired shape into which the fabric isformed. Thus, in fabric andjsulfurl have found the two necessaryelements for'chea ly and conyeniently 95 formm articles or 0 ects' of mear ofany' desired s ape or contour, and secon the fixing or freez ing ofthis shape into permanent form. The sulfur enters the-interstices andpores 100 (fif the fabric and there solidifies in crystalline orm.

- Shrinkage is usually an incident of the impregnation of the fabricwith sulfur, and this imparts great strength and rigidity to thefinished article or object. In this respect, sulfur behaves differentlythan water which, upon freezing, expands and disrupts the materialcontaining it. The inclusion of molten sulfur in the interstices andpores of the fabric and its subsequent crystallization therein issomewhat analogous to the shrinking of a metal tire on a wheel.

Many fabrics, and in particular cotton flannel, serve as ideal vehiclesor mediums for sulfur, in the practice of the present invention. Fabricand sulfur are thereby made available for many purposes not heretoforepossible.

In the accompanying drawings one article made in accordance with thepresent invention is disclosed. In these drawings,

Figure 1 is a view of a radio horn made from my improved fabric, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of the fabric.

As an example of the invention, I will describe a goose-neck radio hornmade of sulfur-impregnated fabric. The desired shape or contour of thehorn is made by stretching an appropriately shaped stocking of cottonflannel over a light form. The form and stocking are then immersed in abath of molten sulfur until the fabric has become fully saturated withsulfur. When saturated, the fabric may contain from 80 to 90% by weightof sulfur, depending upon the other factors. The form andsulfur-impregnated stocking are then removed from the bath, whereuponthe sulfur in the interstices and pores of the fabric rapidly cools andsolidifies. The form is then disassembled and removed, leaving a rigidhorn of sulfur-impregnated fabric. The ease and rapidity with which thiscycle of operations may be carried out is of great practical advantage,and-the horn itself possesses certain advantageous sound-producingqualities.

A modification in the procedure just described consists in using one ormore stockings of cotton flannel, or other suitable fabric, andemploying a temporary stiffening or sizing agent, thereby dispensingwith the necessity of inserting the form in the bath of molten sulfur.In this modified procedure I stretch a suitably shapedpiece of fabricover a metal form and a ply a thin coat of plaster of Paris or the ike,to'the fabric. I then stretch a second similarly shaped piece of fabricover the plaster coating and allow the plaster to set. The metal formcan then be disassembled and removed, and the fabric immersed in thebath of molten sulfur.

The quantity of sulfur absorbed by var us may porosity of the fabric andfabrics varies within wide limits but generally speaking is not lessthan 5% by weight, and more frequently as high as 80 to 90% by weight,based upon the weight of the sulfurcontaining pro uct.

The new articles of manufacture which may be made of sulfur-treatedfabric in accordance with this invention are very numerous. Thus, theinvention is of particular advantage in its ap lication to burlap andcotton sacks, to ma vious sacks and thereby prevent sifting. Theinvention may be advantageously applied to tarpaulins, awnings, hatchcovers and other protective agencies exposed to the weather.

By passing a strip of cotton flannel or other appropriate fabric througha sulfur bath and then winding in an appropriate manner while hot ontoan iron pipe or other cylindrical object, I can build up a monolithic,im ervious, sulfur-coatin of any desired thic ess, since the various iesbond not only with each other, but with t e surface being covered.

use the same general method for lining an acid tank or for applying asulfur coating to m etal or other material. Sulfur alone cannot beapplied as a coating on account of its contraction upon cooling,subsequent brittleness and especiallytits tendency to spall off andcrack under 0 anges of term erature. When the sulfur iscarried in the faric as a vehicle, however, the ferent.

By appropriately shaping the fabric to conform to the shape of thearticle, the invention may be applied to the making ofsulfur-impregnated fabric covers or coatings for acid or other carboys,and other fragile articles. The invention is, moreover, applicable to.the making of hydrofluoric acid bottles, electrolytic tanks, formingtanks, acid dip receptacles, storage battery boxes, and receptacles forcorrosive materials which sulfur resists. As previously stated however,the invention is especially applicable to odd or irregularl shapedarticles and objects such as aci funnels, toys, dolls bodies, canvasbuckets. acid measures, horns for the radio and talking-machineindustries, etc.

Where the fabric is treated with sulfur by immersion in a bath of moltensulfur, I prefor to maintain the sulfur bath at a temperature justslightly above the melting temperature of sulfur, say, for example, atabout 125 C. The length of time that the fabric should remain immersedin the sulfur bath depends in lar e measure upon the characteristics ofthe fa nation desired. In practice, the duration of immersion willrarely be more than a few minutes.

In the drawin s, the-numeral 1 designates a radio horn ma e from myimproved sulfur- I impre ated fabric such as is shown in Fig. 2 wherein2 and 3 represent separate layers of result is entirely difesubstantially imperric and the degree of impregfabric which have beensecured together by means of the sulfur 4 which, during the impregnat-ion of the fabric, is passed into the interstices thereof. 5 Iclaim:

1. The method of making an article composed in' part, at lease, ofsulphur-impregnated fabric which comprises immersing fabric in a bath ofmolten sulphur to effect impregnation, wrapping the fabric, afterimmersion and while the, sulphur contained therein is molten, about aform, and coolin the resulting product to solidify the sulphur. 2.- Themethod of making multi-ply fabric which comprises impregnating at leasttwo layers of sheet material substantially entirely therethrough withsulfur, causing said layers to contact with each other while the sulfurcontained therein is in a molten state and maintaining said impregnatedsheets in conv tact with each other until the sulfur contained thereinsolidifies and crystallizes.

3. An improved fabric comprising a plurality of layers of sheet materialbonded to gether by means of crystallized sulfur, at least one of saidlayers having crystallized sulfur extending substantially entirelytherethrough with crystals thereof interpenetrating with the crystals ofthe sulfur which binds the adjacent layer of sheet material.

4. An improved fabric comprising a plurality of layers of sheetmaterial, at least two layers of said material having crystallizedsulfur extending substantially entirely therethrough with crystals ofeach layer interenetrating with crystals of the other layer to ind saidtwo layers together.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

WILLIAM HOFFMAN KOBBE.

